The Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is one of the greatest superhero trilogies to ever exist. Its attention to story and character brought it an army of fans. And for years now those fans have wondered … Will there ever be a Spider-Man 4?
It’s a long shot but it could potentially happen, right? The film was slated to come after Spider-Man 3, and there was even a release date set (May 6, 2011, if you’re curious), but it never happened in the end. Instead, the franchise was rebooted with Andrew Garfield in the title role.
However, there have been rumors for a while that the long-awaited Spider-Man 4 is just around the corner (even as rumors of another Spider-Man 4, this one with Tom Holland, are also in the works), and now Raimi himself has commented on them. It’s not exactly good news … but it’s not bad news either.
“Well, I haven’t heard about [Spider-Man 4] yet,” Raimi told CBR’s Kevin Polowy at WonderCon. “I did read that, but I’m not actually working on it yet. I mean, Marvel and Columbia are so successful with current Spider-Man [movies], and the track there, and I don’t know that they’re going to go back to me, and say, ‘Well, folks, we can also tell that story!'”
But if they did, Raimi is in the ideal position to come back. “I love all the new Spider-Man movies. I loved Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was really, super powerful seeing Tobey [Maguire] again in it,” he continued. When asked about Maguire specifically, Raimi said, “I haven’t talked to Tobey about it, but maybe Marvel has, or Columbia Pictures. But, I just worked with Marvel on a movie called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So, I’m on great terms with them. I’m sure I would hear about it if it was in the works. I think so. I don’t know.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came out in 2022 and was a big success, the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. Plenty think a Spider-Man 4 could easily surpass it, though.
What else has been said about a potential Spider-Man 4?
Raimi was also asked about a potential Spider-Man 4 back in 2022, and he said then, “I’ve come to realize after making Doctor Strange that anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups. I love Tobey. I love Kirsten Dunst [who played Mary Jane Watson]. I think all things are possible.”
He went on to say, “I don’t really have a story or a plan. I don’t know if Marvel would be interested in that right now. I don’t know what their thoughts are about that. I haven’t really pursued that. But it sounds beautiful. Even if it wasn’t a Spider-Man movie, I’d love to work with Tobey again, in a different role.”
And he’s not the only one who’s expressed those sentiments. Thomas Haden Church, who played Sandman in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, told Comicbook.com in 2023, “I’ve heard rumors … that Sam Raimi was going to do another [Spider-Man movie] with Tobey, and if that happens, I would probably campaign to maybe at least do a cameo.”
This year he expanded on that, telling the same outlet, “There’s been some rumors that they might ask me to do another Spider-Man, and I’d do it tomorrow.”
Asked about whether he might be able to bring Sandman into the MCU one day, he said, “You know, they’ve never asked me to show up in another movie, another Marvel film. But, you know, I think Sam is gonna do another Spider-Man with Tobey [Maguire], and that’s the one that … They had an option for me to do Spider-Man 4 when there was going to be a Spider-Man 4. They had an option on me to come back. So if it happens, that would be fantastic. I’m getting a little old.”
Sadly, it seems Church was wrong (for the moment at least) about Sam Raimi returning with Tobey Maguire for a new movie … but we can always hope. Spider-Man would.
(featured image: Sony Pictures Releasing)
